Wait For Me
by J. Marit
Summary: Falling in love once is a beautiful thing. But to fall in love again with a lover that time made a stranger, well that's a magic all its own. Sequel to Can't Stay Away. RT.
1. Chapter 1

Wait For Me

_One._

"So what did you do this time?" Rory took a long sip of her drink as she quirked an eyebrow at the girl standing next to her.

"I don't believe I did anything wrong." Paris insisted quickly, eyeing all the people around the loft apartment she shared with Mike, her eyes filled with suspicion. "But my therapist tells me that sometimes even if you feel you didn't do anything, if it will settle an argument then just admit defeat and let it be."

Rory tried to conceal her smile. "Oh I see. So not only did you apologize for whatever fight you two were having but you also let Mike guilt trip you into throwing a house party as well. Which is so uncharacteristically you, I might add…" Rory sent her a look that told her she didn't believe her at all. "Just out of the kindness of your heart and for the sake of your relationship because you didn't actual _do_ anything _wrong._"

Rory had always thought that when Mike had finally popped the question that it would officially make him completely whipped. Even more so than he was in their years of dating. But it seemed to have definitely been the other way around. Between Paris's engaged status, and the couples counseling she insisted they go to, she had turned into a more subdued version of herself and Mike used that to his full advantage at every possible opportunity.

Paris glared. "It's a possibility that he _thought_ I did something." she offered. "And anyways, we moved in over a month ago and still haven't had a housewarming party."

Rory laughed. "Paris, you hate housewarming parties." It was true. In fact, the girl hated any kind of party so the fact that Mike had guilt tripped her into throwing this shindig proved that Paris must have done something really bad this time. Rory had to give it to Mike though. He sure knew how to work Paris like no one else to not only make her apologize when she was at fault but get something out of it as well.

Paris glowered into her glass. "Well either way, it's happening and there's no stopping it now. There's already over fifty people here. I told him he could invite all his friends but come on, I've never even seen that guy before!" Paris, uncaring of how rude it was, boldly pointed to a guy in a white shirt and baggy pants that was currently raiding the buffet table Paris had set up. He stopped midway from stuffing a mini sandwiching his mouth and stared at Paris like a kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Oh god, he looks like one of those guys that only washes his hands when he's showering too. There goes the food."

Rory laughed into her drink even as her heart picked up its pace. She'd never seen the guy before either but the way he dressed and the tattoos that littered his forearms were unmistakable. They were just like Tristan's. Glancing around, her eyes narrowed as she started to notice several other guys sporting the same apparel. She knew Mike still kept in contact with that part of his life but didn't know he considered them the type of people to invite to a housewarming party. Especially after all of these years. What had it been now, five years since she'd last seen anyone from the _Kings_? It'd been so long yet being surrounded by them were bringing back memories so vivid it was as if it had only been a week ago she was riding on the back of Tristan's bike heading to the pier.

Rory wrapped her arms around herself as she pushed the memories away. That was a whole other life for her. Things weren't the same anymore. She wasn't some gullible eighteen year old who was in love with a man who couldn't let go of a grudge and thought he was above the law. She was a college graduate who at twenty five had landed her first real job as a journalist for the New Haven Times. She had an quaint apartment on the east side, a circle friends who's idea of a good time wasn't drag racing or clubbing but dinner parties and Broadway shows and had accomplished every goal she had set for herself.

She didn't even know who that girl was who hopped on the back of a bike without a second thought anymore.

"I didn't know Mike really kept in contact with, you know…" An odd feeling made its way into the pit of her stomach and she hugged herself tighter as she scanned the room.

"He doesn't. Well not like you think." Paris answered her though her own voice was now different and Rory turned to her to see her eyes narrowed as she herself scanned the room. "Oh he thinks he's so _smooth_."

In all the years Rory had known Paris, in all the times she had seen her mad, seen her infuriated, never had she heard her voice sound as lethal as it did right now.

Rory's heart thumped wildly in her chest as her anxiety grew. "Paris, what are you talking about?"

Paris turned to Rory with wide eyes, and Rory took a step back in surprise. Paris never looked nervous. Even in the most pressing situations the girl held a strong poker face. Yet now she looked pale and even more anxious than Rory did herself.

"He told me this was a housewarming party." Paris insisted and Rory set her glass down on the mantel of the nearby fireplace as her palms started to sweat. The feeling in the pit of her stomach only increased.

"It's not?" Rory asked slowly. Not too sure what had the usually cool and collected girl freaking out.

"Rory I need to tell you something. I know you told us a long time ago that you didn't want to know anything about Tristan…"

Rory's breath caught in her throat but before she could say anything a familiar voice floated across the flat. A voice she hadn't heard in over five years yet the accent being unmistakable.

"Love!"

Rory and Paris both turned to see Finn approaching them, a huge grin stretched across his face but his eyes filled with just as much surprise as Rory herself felt. "What a lovely surprise." he said, taking the last few steps towards her and without another word, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

It was amazing, was all Rory could think. All the years that had passed and he still looked exactly the same from the twinkling brown eyes that were always sparking with mischief and the intoxicating grin to the trench coat and combat boots.

Rory opened her mouth to speak but shut it again as she watched Paris walk away from them without another word, scanning the room for her fiancee.

Finns eyes stayed on Paris's back until she was out of sight and then turned back to Rory as realization dawned on his face. "Unless you don't know, doll."

Rory was happy she had already set her glass down, because with the way her hand was shaking she surely would have dropped it by now. "Finn." she finally greeted, but was unable to give him a friendly smile back. "Don't know what?"

Finn shook his head, his now wary eyes filling with a bit of amusement. "Well this should be interesting. Apologies in advance, love."

Before Rory could ask him what he meant the door to the flat opened and whistles and greetings echoed through the loft. She couldn't see who was there from where she was but her heart and her gut told her what she already suspected was true.

Paris reappeared dragging Mike by the collar of his shirt and after removing her hand, hit him on the back of the head.

"I'm sorry Rory, I didn't think you were honestly coming. Paris said you had to work. And if we decided if we had it anywhere else it would have gotten out of control. And with the whole parole thing… " Mike's eyes were honest as he stared at her and Rory fought to breath.

"Rory, Tristan got out this morning. This isn't a housewarming party like this asshole told me it was. I should have figured it out but he guilt tripped me into it to start with and I didn't…" she trailed off when she noticed Rory's pale face. "It's a homecoming party. For Tristan."

And as if the fates had slowed down time so that they could watch the next moment in slow motion and laugh evilly to themselves, the loft quieted and the dozens of people that littered the big open room slowly parted until Rory could see just who it was that had just walked through the door.

And as one last person moved out of the way her heart completely stopped as her eyes met with a crystal blue pair that she hadn't seen since that horrible day five years ago.

* * *

Rory stepped off the elevator and made her way down the short hall to the door of the apartment her and Tristan shared.

Stopping outside it, she paused before sliding the key into the lock and just smiled. If you told her two years ago she'd be living in New Haven with her boyfriend while she attended Yale she wouldn't have believed you. But yet here she was, freshman year out of the way and a month into her sophomore year and things honestly couldn't be better.

Well, there's always the fact that she could have a considerably smaller workload for the weekend, she thought, glancing down at her oversized bag.

Sliding the key into the lock she pushed open the door and a smile covered her face when she saw the boy who currently consumed her thoughts standing next to the island that sat in the center of their kitchen.

Then her heart stopped when she took in the black hoodie he wore and the gun sitting on the counter in front of him.

New Haven had been the start of a new life for Tristan. Over the past year he had amazed her by opening more shops with Finn and for the most part staying out of any and all illegal activities. He hadn't changed completely but he had met her in the middle, and that was more than she could have ever asked for. And a big part of that was that he had bought a safe that he kept in their apartment. A safe that would hold his guns. As a promise to her that he was going to change to where he wouldn't need to carry one with him at all times.

A safe that hadn't been opened once in the year that they had lived together.

Until now, apparently, Rory thought as she stared at the gun and clip that sat on the counter. Without a word to her, Tristan picked it up, sliding the clip in and slid it into the back of his jeans.

A movement that sent her heart racing in fear.

"Tristan what's going on?" She slowly lowered her bag to the floor and cautiously took a step forward.

A knock on the door behind her, two solid raps and then one more had her jumping and eyes narrowing at it before turning back to Tristan. She knew that knock.

Finn.

"What's Finn doing here?"

Tristan continued to stay silent. His eyes finally meeting hers and she seen a look in them she thought she would never see again.

"I have to go. I'll be back later."

He walked up to her as if to kiss her but she stepped out of his way. "No. You promised me."

She had overheard him talking to Finn a couple mornings ago when he thought she had been asleep. Heard how finally after a year the guy that had killed Marsters, the guy that had shot and almost killed Tristan twice now, was coming back to Hartford.

Tristan had acted as if it was nothing and her dread eased with that. She had thought he wasn't going to bother with him. That Tee and whoever else who still was in Hartford would deal with it how they chose. That it wouldn't involve Tristan anymore.

But apparently she was wrong.

"And I've kept my promise to you, Rory." His voice was low, even, sending chills racing down her back. "This is different."

His words were so final, even as the protests came from her lips she knew it wouldn't change a thing. But she had to try.

"You don't need to do this." she stepped forward, sliding her hands up to frame his face and pressing her lips softy to his. "You are in a different place now."

His smirk was quick and lethal and she knew he meant it to knock her down.

And it worked.

"He tried to kill me, Rory. Twice. I've kept my promise because he hasn't been around. He ran away. Now he's back and going to start more trouble? Maybe find out where I am and come down here? No. I'm stopping it now."

Rory wrapped her arms around herself as tears burned her eyes.

"If he does we'll call the cops, we'll do things the legal way." she tried but her voice was weak. Knowing the man who stood in front of her and that her offer was ridiculous to him.

He leaned down, pressing his lips firmly to hers, lingering for a moment before pulling away. "I'll be back later, baby."

Anger coursed through her as he stepped around her and headed for the door, lifting his hood up over his head.

"I won't be here." she told him defiantly. Not again, she couldn't go through all of this again. She wouldn't. "If you walk out that door right now, I wont be here when you get back."

The words were completely honest and for a second she actually thought he would realize that, that he would put the gun away and stay but his eyes just turned icy cold at the ultimatum as he looked at her one more time.

"I'll be back later." he told her, calling her bluff as his hand gripped the doorknob and walked from their apartment. She saw Finn send her a guilty look from outside the door, from clearly hearing their conversation and then they were gone.

When she heard bikes rev and race down the street she sunk to the floor.

She couldn't do this again. She wouldn't. As much as it would hurt she would stand by her words. She had given him the choice and he had left. Forty five minutes later she picked herself up from the floor, called Paris to come over and without telling her what was happening she helped her pack her things and an hour later she left the key sitting on the counter where his gun had been, and left.

* * *

Her phone never went off. Not all night and she had assumed he was either still in Hartford or had come home to the empty apartment and was too stubborn to call her yet.

Until she turned on the news that night.

He had gotten arrested. After holding her breath for what seemed like forever she was able to breath again when she heard that he hadn't killed anyone.

The news always scrambled stories but she had heard from Paris what had really happened. The guy had fled and Tristan had taken chase, not willing to let him get away again, but never got the chance to end it all himself because the speed of the bike and looking over his shoulder to watch for Tristan proved to be too much and he had wrecked, dying almost instantly. Tristan had stupidly stopped to make sure, standing over the body, gun in hand and that was enough. Too many witnesses, and it was obvious what had led to the crash.

He was charged with attempted murder.

Finn came once and only once. Showing up outside Paris's dorm to apologize for his part in it all and to tell her about Tristan's request that she come to visit him. She had slammed the door in his face and it had been the last time she had seen him. Paris had found out from Mike that Finn had gone into their apartment to retrieve some things for Tristan and had told him about Rory's things missing the day after it all happened and Tristan knew it wasn't because he had gotten caught. That she had been gone the moment he had walked out that door that he wouldn't call after her again.

She had cried at that, for days upon days. Hating him for respecting her like that instead of respecting them both enough not to have left in the first place.

Then she refused to cry anymore. She told everyone she didn't want to hear anything more about him. She didn't want to know what happened in court, if he miraculously walked or if he was sent to prison. She didn't want to know how long and she didn't want to know where.

And her friends made that happen. Paris had literally woken up early and went and bought all the newspapers from the newsstands around campus every morning if they had an article about him in them until the trial was over.

So of course she had no idea that he had gotten out yet. Over the years she had thought she had seen him places. The back of a leather jacket, a deep voice, the rev of a bike would have her head spinning wondering if he was out, if he was there. But even as her heart soared her mind would force her to not care. She forced herself not to check, not to ask around.

And had built up walls for if and when she ever heard news of him. Preparing herself for it.

Of course she never thought that hearing that news would be moments before seeing him.

Heart thudding in her chest, she let the surprise slide from her face and replaced it with a look of indifference as he slowly walked towards her.

She couldn't move. Could only stare. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeve white thermal that stretched across arms that had definitely grown over the years. And the shaggy blonde hair she remembered so well was now gone, leaving him with a military-esque buzz cut. But those were the only changes, she realized. He still looked exactly the same as the day he had walked out of her life and that was even more of a hit.

Heart in her throat, she kept her eyes challengingly to his as he stopped in front of her.

He watched her for a second before the corners of his lips turned up slowly.

"Hey, Mary."

_If you think of me_

_If you miss me once in a while_

_Then I'll return to you_

_I'll return and fill that space in your heart_


	2. Chapter 2

_Wait For Me_

_Two._

_Only know you love her when you let her go._

* * *

An hour later, Rory found herself still driving around New Haven, though her apartment sat only five minutes from Paris's flat. For some unknown reason she couldn't seem to bring herself to go home, driving in circles and down random roads, only stopping once shortly after leaving to call her mother. To let her know what had happened; that Tristan was out. That she'd stupidly been there at his _welcome home_ party, what he had said, and that she'd walked out without a word and left him standing there with everyone watching.

Lorelai had told her the exact thing she knew she would when she called. To come home to Stars Hollow. That she would kick Luke out for the night and they would order too much food, hit the liquor store and they would drink, eat, laugh and not waste a second of thought on Tristan DuGrey. Yet she found herself declining and telling her mom she just needed to drive and think. After a few minutes of Lorelai expressing her worries about her being behind the wheel when she was experiencing so much, she had hung up and started driving again. It wasn't as if she was crying and was at risk of the tears blurring her vision of the road. It wasn't as if she was furiously driving either, speeding and taking turns too sharp out of frustration of the days events. She wasn't the reckless sort and would never endanger her own life, let alone anyone else's on the road. She just felt like she needed to be somewhere that wasn't home, wasn't work, wasn't even Stars Hollow and she was going to drive until she figured it out.

At first she had considered stopping by Logans to engage in some mindless sex that would momentarily allow her to push away the memories and the anxiety they had brought with them. But she couldn't bring herself to get caught up in _that_ mess again. She hadn't even talked to him in months, although she knew that if she showed up at the his door it wasn't as if he would turn her away despite their lack of keeping in touch. He had told her that his door was always open for her, but even the _thought_ of beginning a no strings casual relationship with him again turned her stomach for reasons she couldn't explain.

She turned the radio on only to turn it right back off when a song she'd danced with Tristan to many times at X slowly crooned out from the speakers. How ironic, she chuckled to herself. Someone up there must be having quite a laugh at her expense.

She took a moment at a stop light to close her eyes and relax back into her seat as the memory glided through her mind, refusing to creep back into the shadows where it had emerged from after years of being locked away. She saw the scene as if she was an onlooker watching the two of them in the dark crowded club, holding onto each other, swaying together. Not even to the same beat of everyone else and the song that was bursting through the speakers but to a beat all their own. A slow dance that seemed so out of place to everyone but them.

Shaking her head, she pushed the image away, refusing to remember the feelings that the memories tried making her remember. So, Tristan was out of prison then? He was back _home_. She'd briefly wondered what kind of deal he had copped to only had a five year sentence, since she knew that the man she spent two years of her life with definitely wasn't the type that would get out on good behavior.

The light turned green and she pressed on the accelerator, deciding to keep going straight, still unsure about where her destination exactly was.

Another half hour passed and she found herself in Hartford, turning down a road that led towards the water that was glowing with color from the setting sun. Driving towards a place she hadn't been to in years and she realized that this was it, deep down she had been headed here all along. She stopped her car and parked it outside a fence that had a new shiny chain lock around it, blocking trespassers and her from driving any further and she wondered when that had happened. If the owner of the property had did it after hearing of Tristan being locked up. Wondering if the only reason it had been left open before was because he had known Tristan had visited the spot and kept it open out of fear of him.

Her eyes focused on the bike that sat parked just outside the fence and her heart seemed to beat a little faster at the sight of it. She shook her head, refusing to indulge in the thoughts that he would be here waiting for her. He was here because this was his getaway place. That was all.

She sat for a moment, trying to talk herself out of it, but yet found herself exiting the car and walking to the fence, her heels clicking quietly against the cement. She pushed one side of the gate as far as the chain lock would allow to bend and slide in between it and ignored the rush she felt knowing she was trespassing. Tristan was back a day and already she was breaking the law, she mused. Cursing herself, she walked slowly to where she knew Tristan would be sitting, staring out over the water just as he had been so many times when she had come here.

A part of her told her to turn around. To get back in her car and leave but she knew she couldn't. It would be a childish thing to do. She was a grown woman now. She refused to run from her problems as she had so many times before. The only way to deal with this is head on. She needed closure. They _both_ did.

The cool wind blew at her shoulder length hair as she approached him, sitting silently with his legs draped over the side of the pier, a cigarette between his fingers.

He took a long final drag and tossed the butt to the side. "Didn't expect you to come here." His voice drifted over to her even though he hadn't turned, and just remained staring out over the bay.

Rory crossed her arms, partly in a nervous gesture and partly to protect herself against the cold. "I thought you'd quit."

He moved his shoulders in a careless shrug and her eyes once again focused on the new muscles that seemed to move under his shirt. "Well, there wasn't much else to do in prison. It kept my hands busy from doing other things."

The lump in her throat grew as her imagination ran wild with his words, wondering all that had happened in the last five years. "We need to talk." she told him as she moved to sit beside him on the pier, removing her shoes to place beside her and letting her legs drape down. Not nearly as close as they used to sit, hand in hand watching the water. Instead she sat a foot or so away yet could still seem to feel the heat coming from his body. Still catch the scent of him in the breeze. Making it seem as if the wind that blew over to her were his own fingertips brushing along her skin.

"So you didn't just come here to go a round or two over there?" Tristan nodded towards the familiar shed that sat a few yards away. Where the cot that they had spent quite a few memorable days on was, making love and just enjoying each others company away from society and in their own little corner of the world.

She nearly smiled, even as the chill of the memories crept up her spine. "I'll have to pass."

He turned to her then, his blue eyes seemed to be glowing in the darkening sky. "Shame." He said, his lips not moving yet she could see the smile in his eyes.

Rory was lost, just staring into their dark blue depths, not knowing what to say, where to start and just waited, getting lost in the fact that it felt so comfortable to be here right now. As if nothing had changed.

He spoke then, his voice calm and quiet, breaking the illusion that they were just two kids in love, watching the sunset. "So what would you like to talk about Rory?"

Her name on his lips sent feelings coursing through her that she'd rather were left buried. "I don't know." she told him honestly and took a slow deep breath. "I just wanted to get things out in the open. We're both adults now. Things are, well, nothing like they were before and…"

"Rory." Tristan cut her off, his lips showing a ghost of a smile. "I didn't expect them to be."

Rory didn't know what to say, so she just turned to the water, watching the waves crash up against the rocks. There was a storm coming. How fitting. Tristan was back and had brought a storm with him after weeks of shining sun.

"So…" Tristan had her turning to him again. Being here, with him, brought back so many feelings inside of her and she hoped they weren't evident when he looked into her eyes. "How are you?"

She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips as she shook her head. Leave it to Tristan just to start a simple conversation when she was here trying to think of the right words to say. She hated how simply it was to slide into the comfort of talking to him.

"I've been pretty amazing Tristan." she told him honestly, meeting his eyes. "School is done. I have a job that I love. My mom is doing great, my grandparents are doing great. Everything is just… great."

He was quiet for a moment, eyes moving to watch the water before turning back to her. "Well I know you might not believe this but that's really nice to know. I'm happy to hear it."

Rory opened her mouth to speak and then just shut it again. No sarcastic comment? No prying? Who was this man sitting beside her?

"I didn't plan it." he said and she waited for him to continue as he reached for another cigarette but then seemed to decide against it and tossed the pack into a nearby tin barrel that homeless used for fires in the wintertime. "I didn't say no though when it was offered."

Rory folded her hands in her lap, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I'm lost."

"Mike's." Tristan explained, looking back out at the ocean. "When him and Finn came to see me a couple weeks ago he offered to have a get together at his place. I didn't want a get together at all. A welcome home party really isn't my thing but Finn's a party animal and uses any excuse to throw one so I knew it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not." His lips turned up slowly. "So when Mike offered a to have it at his place, I knew there was a chance at you being there so I went along with it."

Rory felt like she should be angry, but didn't dare to allow the anger to take residence in her right now because she knew it would lead to other things and she didn't come here to fight. "Oh."

He met her eyes again and she watched him closely while he seemed to search for words. "I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

Rory quirked an eyebrow, a corner of her lips turning up. "Tristan DuGrey apologizing? And looking sincere about it, too?"

His shrugged, and stayed quiet for a moment, watching as the sun dipped further before turning to her again. "Well, I do have a lot to be sorry for."

Rory pursed her lips, breaking his gaze and turning away. "Don't we all." her words were quiet, a whisper next to the crashing waves.

They sat in silence for what felt like mere seconds and eternity at the same time. Watching the sun set, listening to the waves. She wondered if he was fighting an inner battle like she was right now and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was watching the water, his face relaxed and she realized this was his first sunset in five years. Her heart ached at the thought and she bit her lip, pushing the feeling away. What happened had happened and there was no changing it now.

Now that they weren't at a party surrounded by people and instead sitting alone, she took the opportunity to look him over again and saw that, unlike her first impression, he actually _had_ changed. But not just in a physical way. The way he sat, so relaxed as opposed to how guarded she remembered him. The lines in his face slightly deeper and his cheeks more hollow, older. Gone were the reckless eyes, replaced by pools of emotion that she couldn't decipher.

She watched as the corner of his lips turned up and knew he had felt her watching him. "So," he glanced at her, his eyes confirming that he definitely had caught her staring. "Paris and Mike are getting married, huh?"

Rory nearly laughed at the fact that her cheeks had flushed at being caught and ran a hand through her hair, remaining silent for a moment before answering. "That's actually a big part of why I'm here." She turned serious eyes on him.

Tristan raised an eyebrow, mischief dancing across his face "Need a date for the wedding?"

Now there was the man she knew. She sent him a look, unable to hide the smile that touched her lips, but not allowing him to deter her away from what she wanted to say. "It's not like were going to be able to avoid each other. I hadn't known Mike had kept in contact."

Tristan nodded. "As much as Finn. He… he helped with some things."

Rory wondered but didn't ask. She would see if Paris knew anything later but right now, she didn't know if she could take a long conversation about the things that happened during his sentence. Ignorance was bliss.

"Well…" she breathed, hands figgeting in her lap. "I don't know whether you plan to stay in New Haven or come back here to Hartford, but like I said it's obvious we'll most likely be running into each other and I want it to be as little awkward as possible."

Tristan sat, quietly listening. No judgment in his eyes, no sarcasm in his voice. "How would you prefer we do that?"

Rory searched his face, needing to know if this was an act. This calm, easy going man? Or had prison changed him in ways she couldn't even fathom? "To come to an agreement. To leave the past in the past."

"That's fine with me."

Even as her heart filled with joy, a bit of hurt made it's way t her chest and she hated that it did. This is what she wanted, right? What did it matter to her if they left the past in the past? Forgot everything. "I don't know what I expected to happen if I ever saw you again. On the drive here, I didn't know whether to laugh or want to kill you at what you first said to me after not seeing me for five years…"

Tristan let out a chuckle. "You looked like a deer in the headlights. I figured it would help loosen you up a bit. Didn't really expect you to just walk out." he mused, bringing a hand to his chin. "A slap, a punch, a carefully aimed glare with five years of hate behind it, yeah. But you being all cool and collected, and just slipping by and leaving. I hadn't expected that." He wasn't making fun, or even sounding put off, instead he just seemed genuinely surprised.

Rory shrugged. "I didn't feel like putting on a show." she remembered all the people she'd left at the party and cringed.

"That wasn't what I wanted." Tristan said honestly, his eyes on her until she brought hers to meet his again.

Rory sighed. "Then what _did_ you want?" she asked him, her hands clenching into fists.

Tristan was quiet for a moment, staring off over the water. "I'm going to make it up to you, Rory."

She turned to him sharply. "I don't expect, or _want_ you to make anything up to me." the pure disbelief she felt at his statement evident in her voice.

"I respected you." he told her. "When I found out that you had kept your word when I left, I didn't try and change your mind. I respected your choice."

Rory laughed, though it lacked all humor. The contestation instantly changing. "You respected me? Yeah, you did. But it was the wrong time. You should have respected me enough to never leave at all. You don't get to be the hero and act like you did me some huge favor by letting me get my life back and not trying to contact me."

"You're right."

Rory's eyes narrowed as the anger started to build. "What, no typical Tristan response insisting that what he did was the right thing?"

"Is that what you want?"

Rory held her hands out to her sides. "I don't want anything. For a long time I thought you walking out was by far the worst thing that ever happened to me." she met his eyes steadily, refusing to look away. "Then I grew up."

Tristan just nodded, watching her. "Whether you want to believe it or not, so did I."

Rory shook her head, standing up and grabbing her shoes. Irritated at herself as her hand shook when she tried to slip them back onto her feet. "Well it doesn't matter. Because whatever plans you might have you just need to forget them. You don't need to make anything up to me. The girl you left standing in that apartment is gone." she straightened, squaring her shoulders defensively. "You don't know me anymore."

Tristan stood then, easily boosting himself up and letting his hands dive deep into the pockets of his jeans as he faced her. "I could say the same thing."

"No you can't." Rory crossed her arms, looking away for a moment as she remembered the pain she felt when the man she thought loved her more than anything walked out on her. "I can't _not know you anymore_ because I apparently never knew you at all to start with."

"You did." Tristan told her, his eyes flashing. "But I'm not going to press the issue." He shrugged. "If you want civility, I can do that. Since like you said, we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other."

Rory crossed her arms in front of her, glancing down at her shoes before meeting his eyes again. "Yeah. We will."

"And we can leave the past in the past." he offered.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Tristan shrugged again, though now there was a hint of a smile on his lips. "We're just two people who don't even know each other."

"That…" Rory's eyebrows raised at the statement. "That will be perfect."

He looked back as the sun made its final dip into the horizon. "Better get going. Wouldn't want to get caught out here. _Trespassing_."

She let out a small smile when he chuckled at the irony. She knew it didn't matter who actually owned the pier, this was and always would be Tristan's place. "Yeah… I should get going too."

Tristan just stood watching her and she shifted under his gaze. "So I'll see you around."

"Yeah." she said, feeling like she was in an alternate universe. The conversation had started building into a fight yet instead of fanning the flames like he always had, unable to control his temper and biting responses, he had somehow turned it all around. She really _didn't_ know the man standing in front of her. "I'll see you around."

She only managed a few steps before his voice had her turning back to him. "By the way," he said, closing the distance between them until he was merely a foot away. "I'm Tristan." His eyes danced at her as he formally held out a hand.

She didn't know why, maybe the shock and surprise or maybe just because somewhere deep down she wished that this was a new beginning. That they were meeting for the first time once again. That everything that happened before, every terrible thing, was now erased… but she found herself putting a hand in his.

The feel of his strong rough hand enveloping hers sent electricity shooting through her body. That small touch of her skin against his awoke feelings long buried and she remembered the attraction that had brought them together in the beginning and realized it was still very much there. He held her hand in his for a second, blue eyes on blue eyes and then loosened his grip but when she went to pull her hand away, he just held it more firmly once again and brought it to his lips.

His blue eyes stayed on hers for a moment as his lips grazed the top of her hand and then they shut, as if savoring the moment. Savoring the feel of her.

Rory's mouth fell open in surprise, but didn't know what to do except stand there and allow it. No amount of past pain or rage was enough to outweigh the shock of the gesture and pull her hand away. Though even as her heart seemed to soar, a pain stabbed deep. Reminding her. Not allowing her to ever forget.

As if he had felt it to, Tristan slowly lowered her hand, holding it for a moment before letting it go. When the cold air hit where his warm hand had been, Rory found herself pulling it to her body, holding it close to her chest.

She stood for a moment, unsure of what to do, what to say and then decided against doing anything more. Without another word, she walked to the fence and slipped back through it, casting one glance back at the man who was watching her leave before getting into her car and driving away.


End file.
